FIND WHAT MOVES YOU

Being confined to one style or technique seems as limiting to me as a palette with only one color. I prefer to let mood and muse decide where we will go nest. The variety in my work is designed to offer the viewer many destinations.

SAIL AWAY

Reflections of white sails, green pines and sun on the water bring a busy thoroughfare in Maine into soft focus with sharp geometrics and a summery palette. Acrylics.

SUMMER GARDEN

My grandmother's garden was a magical place when I was a child. I would wander among sunflowers that were taller than I, hear the soft hum of bees, smell fresh mint in the breeze. Such a sensory memory was hard to capture on canvas, but the watery pastel colors and dreamlike feeling here conjure that memory. Acrylics.

WILD

Hidden among tall grasses, the wild flower asks for nothing -- no fertilizers, weeding, watering or fawning gardeners. They bloom for the sheer joy of it. Sometimes I feel guilty for picking them, but on a sunny windowsill in a while pitcher, I imagine they feel loved.

WINTER TIDES

Capturing the swirl of winter tide using a limited palette of only 3 shades was a challenge for someone who likes to work in a rainbow of acrylics. This image shows the somber side of Maine's beauty, making it easy to understand why folks from Downeast keep the wood stoves burning from October to April.

LET LOVE RAIN

The couple in the foreground appears to be wearing long robes, suggesting they are time travelers from another era. They seem to glow, as if they are of divine origin and out of place in the hustle of a modern city. Inspired by the words of a Bob Dylan song - "C'mon I'll give you shelter from the storm.

ROCKBOUND COAST

Summers on the Maine coast have left an indelible impression of rocky ledges, pine tree islands and sweeping sunsets. Impressionistic cubism brings all the piece of my memory together in earth-toned acyrlics.

GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

I failed in ballet class. I was a tree-climbing tomboy who would rather play than plie. The grace and form of the disciplined dancer was mine only on canvas. Soft grey and pink capture the muted elegance of their world. Acrylics.

BEACH GLASS

Soft focus transparencies create the feeling of submerged beach glass shifting on the ocean floor amidst seaweed and filtered light. The watery blue-green softness of this image captures the lightness of summer. Acrylics.

MEADOW MEDITATIONS

From a distance, the meadow is just a sea of yellow, but as the wind parts the tall grasses, wildflowers in every shade are revealed. Likewise, living superficially keeps us from seeing one another's hidden beauty. Take the time. Spread a blanket in the meadow. Acrylics.

ON THE WIND

Sailboats on choppy waters are envisioned with sharp, disconnected images that create a sense of movement in a wind-tossed harbor. I like to break down an image into distinct pieces and rebuild it. Acrylics.

WHAT LIES BENEATH

Under piles of seaweed lay a treasure. As kids, we'd lift the wet tangle off the rocks and watch startled little crabs scuttle across the sand. This image is more realistic than others because the memory I tried to capture is still so vivid. Acrylics.

BLUE HILL FAIR

We saved our allowances all summer for The Blue Hill Fair. Late August, it arrived. An old fashioned country fair complete with 4-H, tractor pulls, candy apples and games you could never win. It was a surreal spin of colors in the night. I tried to capture the magic. Acrylics.

THE KINDNESS OF KOI

In a dog-eat-dog world, the kindness of koi is a beautiful thing. They're extremely friendly to other fish (no fighting, no eating each other as snacks!) and they're fond of humans, too, often coming to the surface for a pat on the head. Using bright acrylics to capture their world, I thought of ours. And the value of kindness.

MEMORIES OF TUSCANY

Emblematic cypress trees, purple vineyards and every shade of green stretch out as far as the eye can see -- summer in Tuscany. New to my collection, this piece resembles a dream in which fragments of time and place, shape and color are woven together to tell the whole story.

TOGETHER WE STAND

Abstract cubism depicts the borders and boundaries we put around ourselves in a divided nation. Here, a vibrant image illustrates the beautiful composition created when all sizes, shapes and colors lean on each other. Acrylics.

DEER ISLE COVE

"Deer Isle Cove" uses acrylics to capture the cold, navy-colored waters of Fall and sunset over the Camden Hills. The use of molding paste on canvas created the rugged texture that conveys the choppy, windswept waters and the rugged ledges of downeast.

FLAMES OF WAR

Just a teen during the Vietnam, I was deeply affected by pictures of children caught in up in the conflict. I revisited that lingering image here, depicting a little girl on the road to elusive safety, her world in flames around her. Acrylics.

CATERPILLAR HILL

President Obama, wife Michelle and their secret service entourage stopped at the top of Caterpillar Hill one summer to view the expanse of sea and islands. Every June, my heart skipped a beat here when I caught my first glimpse of the bridge in the distance that would take me from mainland to another world. Vivid blues and the fiery red of blueberry fields in the fall. Acrylics.

SCRAPS

I used to collage with bright scraps of paper torn from the pages of National Geographics because the colors were so vivid. In this piece, acrylics are the "scraps" I used to create a flurry of colorful "confetti" that celebrates diversity and the beauty of coming together.

BLUE FISH

On hot summer days, kids jumped from the bridge into the cool waters below. In the fall, the waters were foreboding as a churning hoard of Blue Fish ran down the tidal river, stricking anything in their path. This piece captures their frenzied run. Acrylics.

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Crawford Notch

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From the top of Mount Willard, the Presidential Range sprawls in every direction. Sun and clouds cast moving shadows across the notch making it a breathtaking, every changing canvas. No image will do it justice but I tried to capture the feeling at sunset. Acrylics.

The sea creates its own art as it tosses muscle shells up onto the shore. The composition changes with every tide, shifting and reshifting light blues and navy against the pink granite sand. My work is a humble forgery of nature's perfect original. Acrylics.

BEHIND THE GATE

Impressions of summer fields, secret gardens and beckoning horizons. Just open the gate. I used molding paste on canvas to create texture.

PONTE VECCHIO

By day, Florence's oldest bridge is just a rippled reflection. At night, the Ponte is a vibrant festival of street musicians and gelato-toting couples. The sounds of laughter and singing carry down the Arno river to my open window. Acryics.

IN MY MIND'S EYE

Emily Dickenson wrote, "I never saw a moor. I never saw the sea. Yet know I how the heather looks and what a wave must be."Likewise, I've never been to Arizona, but I picture it in shades of aqua turquoise, coral colored hills, sprawling beige desert and green cactus. Acrylics.

SPRING COMES

If, in their eagerness, the crocus and daffodils come too soon, winter whips around to exert her dominance. II imagine winter as a blank white canvas envious of spring's palette. I root for spring. Acrylics.

UNDER THE PALMS

I'm always drawn to the sea. This abstract, cubist interpretation of a tropical shore captures its pastel softness in contrast to the sternness of "Deer Isle Cove". The sea, in any of its moods, draws me. Its vastness puts the mundane in perspective and its unpredictable moods reflect the nature of life itself. Acrylics.

PIECES OF EIGHT

As a young beachcomber, I thought that some day as I strolled along the beach I would stumble upon a still glittering piece of pirates gold. I came to think that the wave-smoothed pieces of beach glass I filled my sandy pockets with were the real treasure. Acrylics.

DOWN BY THE HARBOR

Rocks, docks and lobster boats heading out to pull the traps -- Down by the Harbor is a busy, choppy image of coming and going in a sea of blue. Acrylics.

SLICES OF SUMMER

The soft fade from watery white to a deep pink is a playful symbol of summer but has a deeper meaning. In a time of racial friction, I enjoy the idea of smashing stereotypes and giving one white seed a taste of what it feels like to be in the minority. Acrylics.

POCKETFUL OF STONES

One stone on the beach is just a sandy keepsake in a wet pocket. A collection of stones cast up on the sands is a compilation of colors and textures - a work of nature's art. The theme, once again, is unity. "We are more together". Acrylics.

PASSIONATE PALETTE

I broke the spectrum into jagged pieces of color again to make the point that we are beautiful as individual colors, but so much more in unison. Acrylics.

BRITRAIL

Traveling through Great Britain by train with a light wallet and a too-heavy backpack, I spent a lot of time on the rails watching the green hills fly by. Lacking the funds for a good B&B, I slept on the night trains. Amazing what youth makes possible. Acrylics

OVERLOOK

The island where I spent my summers is the source of so much of my imagery. From every high point, the expanse of sea, sky and islands is breathtaking. Even as a kid, I tried to capture it on canvas so I could bring it home with me in the Fall.